RideZX6R

here's what I went thru since last year...

Gave the car to a buddy to detail it... told him to drive the car (trusted friend for a few years)... He calls me the next day says the night before the car just 'lost oil pressure and lit up like a christmas tree on the dash'... ok it did have a light tapping sound (which we thought was a bad/loose rocker) and I planned on fixing it but the car made power so I was going to wait til it was cleaned up to do it. I figured maybe that was it... The engine codes were for the PCM and the PCM wasn't responding to anything (HPTuners couldn't even find it). We figured it was bad and replace it. (this was all done at his shop 45 mins from me) - When that didn't work... we towed it home... then found this...





Valve spring on the driver's side head let go... Yikes
The valve was in 3 pieces, one piece of the stem in intake manifold, one piece of stem in the valve area, tulip of the valve wedged sideways in the seat. Head on that side was unusable. So I figured I was buying new heads (and a cam since it was gonna be apart), and that was it....
We pulled the head and found this...

Ok, I guess I need a piston...

**at this point we pulled the other head, and remember how we thought it was a rocker was moving around a bit making that tapping sound... but it was on the other head... basically the sound had nothing to do with the failure - the guy/friend I trusted over-rev'd the car, making the spring break and drop the valve into the cyl which did all the damage**

Then we pulled the block, we planned on just swapping out the one piston and rod...
But wait... we can't do that either...

Block was cracked... Oi...
Bought a used block for $200... and had it cleaned up - put the 7 good pistons/rods in it... and one good used piston/rod to replace the bad ones.
new cam, rod, and main bearings, new rings, etc







We found out the car had a ported oil pump so we re-used it. I sold the 220/220 cam that was in it. Bought a TSP MS4...

and installed the short-block and a new LS7 clutch kit/fly wheel with new slave cyl and remote bleeder (yes I painted the wheels and yes there's overspray on the tires - the tires are corded, and I plan on replacing them before driving so I didn't care about overspray - basically they're just there cuz they hold air and I needed something to roll the car onto the trailer with)

towed it to East Coast Supercharging in NJ and as soon as my heads come back from TEA - we'll measure and fly cut the pistons, measure for pushrod length. The it'll be coming home for final assembly and tuning. Probably 10 days out.

Here's the specs on the motor/car

TOPCATHR

thanks for the photos.....good luck with the motor

peter pan

Nice rebuild you have going on

jrose7004

That quite a project.

Vetteman Jack

Heck of a project. Good luck getting everything put back together and getting the car back on the road. And next time, don't let your friend drive the car.

RideZX6R

Thanks guys

I won't - as far as the question about "will you make him help out on the cost?" - as I was asked on another forum I posted this on...

I didn't ask him to at first because I figured the tapping (which ended up being a bad rocker end cap - rocker was just moving but was still working - was on the other cyl head from the broken spring) was what caused it.

Then we found out it was an obvious over-rev... I was already in the middle of spending the cash so I went ahead and did it.
Since then, about $5000 later... I decided when its finished I'll talk to him and basically say "I know you won't admit it, but you broke the car... I'd appreciate if you detailed it as we agreed originally before it was broke free of cost and we'll call it even" - If he doesn't agree, I'll decide then whether I want to light the kid up on all the forums he posts his high-end details on. He was/is a friend, depends on how he handles himself honestly.

I'm not one to ruin friendships over money/********, but if he blows me
off or says anything like "prove it" or something like that... It'll REALLY **** me off.

Silverbullet00

Great attitude for Easter weekend! I never let anyone drive mine without me in it. **** happens to cars,,,I don't want to have your problem. Not the engine problem, they do fail, the friend problem is the one I don't want.


Good luck and keep us posted.....

RideZX6R

Thanks sir - my buddy and I are planning on making a video for the top end assembly, and then we'll do one for the dyno/tuning session.

WvCorvette

rebelheart

Exactly how did you determine it was an "overev?" You stated it had a tapping sound already which indicates the spring was most likely already broken.It just finally dropped the valve,which could happen at idle.Dont blame your buddy for something you neglected.

johnsengine

I would have to agree ... dont let a 'buddy' drive it ,unless its a buddy you know will NOT abuse it. I have 'crept' an engine back home with a broken valve spring before - pulled that plug - snaked a small rubber hose in the cylinder - turned over by hand ,until the piston came up & held the valve in place. Then you can replace the spring - pull out the hose - finish up & your on the road again !!
I would have dont some better pistons ,since you had it down that far - but if $$$ was an issue - you did good. For future note - you could have pulled the cracked cylinder sleeve ... if no damage to actual block. Happy wrenching - good luck !!

Big Duk

Will it Run on 91 octane?

MrGary2011

I gotta say your fault for letting him drive the car. Also, you already had issues with the engine and letting him drive it was a setup. "Here's the the keys to my car thats about to blow up!" Lets see you have a cracked block and it was the friends fault? Also, is the friend the "we" guy or someone else?
Course any body who spray paints rings on their wheels and doesn't care about over spray on their tires is about out there! You did a lot more work (obviously planned work) on the engine and want come back on your friend for acknowledment that it was his fault???
Come on man you want to get a free detail because your car broke on him? Thats going to make things good with you?
My advice let it go! Keep your friend, you may break down again with another piston or something else and may need to call him for some help, don't burn bridges. Cars break and can be easily fixed, friendships are a bit harder to mend, if at all!
Good luck with the car and hope everything turns out good in your favor!

AngryTurtle

I am also failing to see enough proof to blame a friend for breaking your car.

damilleniumboy

Did you have the rev limiter removed? Or was it a bad shift from a higher gear to a lower gear?

johnsengine

I would have at least told him ,"Take it easy on it - the motor needs attention".
But ultimately - I think most people get into a vette & think [press down on the gas -n- see what it'll do!!] Ive had this experience with a motorcycle when I was a kid.

johnsengine

One other thing - so many people think 'rev it as high as you can - it'll "go" faster' ... WRONG !! Most of the time your h.p. falls after you hit 90% of your r.m.p.
You will get better performance if you shift before hitting red-line. Set your rev-limiter conservatively.
I own a C-6 w/a 402",procharged engine & set my shift light @ 5500 r.p.m. - [it goes past that so fast anyway]. With power ,must come brains - or you will pay $$$ !!

killain

Good you pointed that out, if it is at full power and torque as of my LS1, it's 350hp@ 5200 and torque 360@4000 the LS6 of that year is 405@6000 and 400@4800 so, pushing it to 7000 is now heading down while the engine revs way past the point of useable power and torque. I assume that is the intent of the rev limiter ?

robert miller

some nice work sounds like you have it going on here...

Tom/99

I hope all goes well with the rebuild. Do keep us posted.